Review: Sivaji

JUNE 17, 2007 – ONE OF THE EARLIEST Tamil lessons I had in school was this story titled Naagan Seidha Narcheyal. It was about this boy, Naagan, who was walking home from school one evening, past a bridge, when he noticed that the railway tracks were broken. Worse, a train was barreling down his way in the distance. He thought for a minute, then took his red shirt off and waved it in the air. The engine driver saw the flag and stopped the train. All was well, and Naagan was celebrated as a local hero. All these years, this story had slipped from my mind, and it came rushing back while I was watching Sivaji â for the film features a similar chain of events, except that Naagan is now Thamizhchelvi (Shreya), and the shirt is now a red dhavani. But that isnât half as interesting as what the disaster entails. This isnât about everyman passengers plunging down to their deaths from a bridge; itâs about the Super Star himself (as Sivaji), whoâs gotten a foot stuck between the tracks, and is facing sure death â till Thamizhchelvi saves him with her quick thinking. You see what Iâm getting at, donât you? When I heard about Shankar and Rajinikanth coming together, I expected all kinds of never-before surprises, but not for a second did I think Iâd see the day when the biggest hero of our times would need to be rescued by his heroine.

This is Rajini, for crying out loud! Weâd happily buy the scene with cheers and wolf-whistles even if he merely held out a hand with an upturned palm, and the train slowed down in meek submission â so what is this business about him needing to be saved? Whereâs the âheroismâ? â that all-important consideration of Kollywood â in this? Yes, this is probably the most logical way out of the situation, having her stop the train, but whoever looks for logic in a masala movie? All we care is that within the universe of the movie, a certain logic prevails, which is why we donât bat an eyelid in a Rajini movie when he sends fifteen goons into orbit with a single thrust of a fist. When we, the audience, are more than willing to suspend our disbelief, why bind yourself down with could-this-really-happen scenarios? And yet, thereâs an alarming lack of logic in places itâs really needed, when Sivaji turns to addressing social issues like black money. (The hero is an NRI who wants to do good for the poor. The rich and the corrupt wonât let him. So he becomes a vigilante to achieve his ambition. End of functional story.) These are usually the strongest parts of a Shankar film, but here they are horribly written and the execution is worse. Is it because they thought the average Rajini fan wouldnât be able to comprehend a more involved plot? If so, thatâs a terribly condescending view of masala movie viewers, whoâve made hits out of tightly-scripted masalas like Ghilli and Dhol. (Thereâs something to be said for the fact that the films that sprang instantly to my mind are both by Dharani.) Even in the case of Rajiniâs own movies, no one can accuse Baasha or Padayappa (my favourite from the post-Annamalai Rajini oeuvre) of least-common-denominator pandering. These films combined a strong sense of the starâs style with a stronger narrative that gripped you regardless of whether you were seated in the balcony or the front row.

Itâs one thing to have no story â thatâs no crime. But itâs quite another to have no idea of where your screenplay is going â and Sivaji simply lumbers and lurches from one incident to the next. Too messagey to be an all-out Rajini entertainer, and too worshipful of its leading man to be an effective Shankar potboiler, the film just hangs there, throwing at us various things in the hope that at least something will stick â an action-sequence equivalent of the Chandralekha drum dance, a couple of seriously sexy leading ladies (including the newly slim item-girl Nayantara), a completely random bit with mimicry artists (though Chinni Jayanth cracked me up), the references to religion that no Shankar movie is complete without (here itâs something to do with a horoscope and a saint whose predictions always come true because he has moles on his tongue; donât ask), nods to Rajiniâs bus-conductor past, the undeniably entertaining flashes of Rajini style… At some point, I began to feel that scenes were written in just so that the film could be padded out to a certain length, and after writing these scenes, they had no room to flesh out, for instance, the villain (played by Suman, a top candidate for the most ineffectual antagonist in living memory). As a result, thereâs no weight to anything that Sivaji does. (Even a Rama needed a Ravana on the opposite team!) When Sivaji knifes someone, weâre told that the blade has entered the body without rupturing any major organ, and besides, thereâs a doctor waiting on the spot to take care of the wound. Shankar had no qualms making Kamal Hassan a murderer in Indian, but with Rajinikanth, heâs too scared to take chances. But when you think about it, Kamal gets away scot-free in the end of that movie and still manages to retain audience sympathy, so why did Shankar not fashion a character with a similar heft for Rajini?

In the first half, especially, Rajini has very little to do thatâs worthwhile. Itâs excruciating, this portion â and only Vivek, as the Super Starâs sidekick, manages to break through the tedium. He has a superb scene where he punctures this whole punch-dialogue business, and I think pretty much everyone collapsed when he let loose this gem: Six-ukku apparam seven da, Sivaji-kku apparam yevan da! Unfortunately, he is shoved aside frequently to make room for Sivaji and Thamizhchelvi â and this has got to be one of the worst-written romantic tracks ever. I felt a near-physical pain watching Rajini slather his face with bleaching products to woo this girl, or seeing him run to the bathroom with a case of the loosies after wolfing down a plateful of red chillies at her house. Is this how he wants to be remembered in what are surely his last few films? In another movie, Iâd have whined at the suddenness with which the song breaks appear, but here I was almost grateful â especially as these are staged with Shankarâs trademark lavishness. (The pick of the lot are Vaaji vaaji, which unfolds in a grandiose Thotta Tharani set that looks like a colosseum crossed with a greenhouse pierced by shafts of light â itâs superbly shot by KV Anand â and AR Rahmanâs smashing Athiradee, which comes across like the most explosive music video that Robert Rodriguez never made.)

At the end of it all, the impression you get is that the film was used merely to build up an image â a political image. Sivaji has barely landed in India, when he sees a beggar on the streets and gives her money, commenting that many things may have changed in our country but this hasnât. Heâs shown to be from a farmer family, which means he is â very literally â a son of the soil. He wants to marry a Tamil girl (even if this girl â loftily named Thamizhchelvi, a âdaughter of Tamilâ? no less â is constantly mouthing something completely different from what we hear from her dubbing artist; itâs disgusting how no one seems to care about this even during the close-ups). He constantly speaks of doing good for the people. (Thereâs a terrific stretch of conversation early on, when Sivaji is in prison and the prisoner in the neighbouring cell enquires why heâs there. He asks if it was murder. Sivaji says no. He asks if it was fraud. Sivaji says no. He asks if it was pornography. Sivaji says no. He asks what, then, got him arrested. And Sivaji replies with a smile, âMakkalukku nalladhu pannen.â? This is masala-movie dialogue-writing at its punchy best: feint, feint, feint, and… JAB!) And late in the movie, when Rajini finally comes into his own and proves (with a smashingly cool get-up) why heâs a style icon to beat all style icons, the name he adopts acronyms to… well, I wonât say, but this is the most directly political statement in Sivaji. Itâs all very well if someone uses his films as a springboard for a political career â and Tamil Nadu does have a longstanding tradition of stars-turned-politicians â but I hope the next time Rajini picks a script, he thinks also about the legacy heâs going to leave behind as an actor. As for Shankar, I hope the next time he writes a script, he doesnât go after yet another aspect of corruption in our country. It would be too tragic if â spinning minor variations on all-too-familiar major issues â he ended up the Madhur Bhandarkar of Tamil cinema.

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Baddy, you’re the man! What guts to give a honest review. You could have so easily joined this lovefest. The whole bunch of hypocrites in this bandwagon. The critics don’t have to critique a rajini film. What an exception, what guts pal? If you ask them about this whole parade, they would say, it’s just thalaivar aka superstar aka Rajini. I just wonder what Rajini ‘the actor’ has become. Of all the great films he has done, he wouldn’t be credited to be a decent actor who can do stylized roles and do emotionally poignant scenes with his symbolic histrionics – later he would use just his ‘charisma’ and work on it, which would be later called as ‘ishtyle’ – wtf!. Now for the past decade, He makes masala crap and serves it hot, people feed on it with pride. What the heck!

The same shameless people are known for their double standards. Take TR’s Veerasamy – melodrama, cheesefest, routine storyline with a bad script – what it missed was Rajini’s ishtyle and charisma, shankar’s bramandam (wtf again). I wouldn’t/couldn’t digest this holy ‘crap’. How could people hail this movie, Unless people love this guy to death (Which is plain hysteria/myopia with blind reasoning behind it). I for one, hate him. Not because he has become a star. But because, we lost a decent character actor and because, he has made a fool out of himself. Unfortunate!

Question is, Is this called ‘entertainment’?

Why rajini is an exception to this rule, when people like TR, Ramarajan, vijay, ajith, etc do the same! I’ll never know. What I do know is, I would be thrown with abuses if I say this! Godforsaken, irrational, illogical place.

Neat review..”All those croresâ¦ and they couldnât buy themselves a script”, ”Thamizhchelvi, a âdaughter of Tamilâ? no less â is constantly mouthing something completely different from what we hear from her dubbing artist; itâs disgusting how no one seems to care about this even during the close-ups)”
Those 2 lines pretty much describe the movie for what it is..

I would encourage visitors to see Thilak pratap selva kumar’s blog to see some ridiculous claims he has made there. His equally ridiculous comment above is quite in line with it, and so can be safely ignored by tamil movie fans

baradwaj
i’m with you in that this a punctured script propped with “all those crores”. even i’m unable to comprehend such massive, national endorsement of sivaji (the north media seems to have suddenly woken up to the rajni aura).

the first half was a complete yawn, but i do feel that you have to give it to rajni, for having been able to carry this very very mediocre film almost entirely on his shoulders. i guess the difference he has made would reflect when you think of ANY other actor in this mad, utterly illogical film. and yes, even for a person like me who isn’t quite kicked about his swoosh-swish ishytle, the climactic segment (with the mottai get-up) gave me the goose-bumps. is that a bad thing? i don’t know. but definitely, this is not good cinema.

and considering that this is yet another big money-spinner, are we ever going to see the underused talent of this actor again?

Shankar has become too obsessed with richness to give importance to anything else, this has to be amongst his weakest efforts. I have berated the movie enough in my own ramblings…
On a different note, I want to read a script you would write…something that you would make given the resources!!!

guys, wake up!.. movie making is a business, not a niche hobby to support ego trips.. shankar and others intended to make a blockbuster and have achieved it.. your review seems to be in a totally different context.. maybe its time you join the gang and have some fun.. after all, since when did tamil (and especially rajini) movies stick to logic and strong storylines.. heck, even hollywood blockbusters don’t

Baradwaj,
That was a pretty balanced and honest review. I felt the movie was bit too long, and the parts like Shriyas family having lunch at Rajni’s home silly and stupid. You just dont feel for Rajni when he goes through tough times in the middle of the movie, as the characterisation is very weak. All we see is Rajni running around Shriya and joking around with Vivek. The movie is a hit just for Rajnikanth and his style, whilst Shankar will bask in its glory.

BR, my friend, you are way too kind with your words..The movie sucked big time…even among bad movies it will definitely stand out…
And the girl stopping the train with her dupatta, well..at least she gave the audience a nice view …much better than having to look at the old fart…

BOSS…we have enough documentaries and other movies to pass a message to the masses…i didnt expect Thalaivar movie to tell a message..we as a fan need his presence…his entertainment….most scenes we had seen enough in Gentleman..ramanaa…last 15 mins the MOTTA BOSS was the total entertainer…we expect rajni for his style not for his message…

Dude…I know your feelings about Bhandarkar, and to some extent I agree with them, especially the conscious rally-cry against a too-big social segment that he carries with each movie.

But still, your last line here is way over board, IMHO obviously. You’re implying that Shankar’s espousal of social causes is better than Bhandarkar’s??? Don’t tell me! I thought Bhandarkar, even for his shortcomings, atleast exposes something new (from an average audience’s perspective) if you look into the details of the plot.

By the way, I base my opinions on whatever I have seen of Shankar in hindi movies. If you think he’s dramatically better in Tamil ones, then…umm..ok.

Superstar’s creative inputs to his own films have always remained minimal, in the sense that, SS belives in the maker and submits
himself to the director completely, unlike kamalhassan. Kamalhassan would think twice before he utters something like ‘sivajiyum nAnE, mgr-um nAne‘or even naan rajini maathiri style paNNap pOREn in place of thalaivar’s naan kamalhassan maathiri colour- a maaRap pORen.

With this kind of an actor who comes with an electrifying screen presence and an enviable technical crew, we expect Shankar to deliver a gripping story like mudhalvan or even indhiyan.. Shankar had this magical skill of making unbelievable stories from
funny ideas like oru nAL muthalvan to interesting movies. but… ingga enna nadakkuthu?.

Though as thalaivar’s fan i enjoyed the movie thoroughly, as a movie buff i was totally dissppointed with the story line and absurd sequences like the one in which thalaivar threatens auditors to disclose their client’s information. C’mon.. how illogical can shankar or even sujatha get more?

Regarding the comedy in the first half, i’m not surprised at your reaction. From what i have read ( in blogs & MSM), the reactions are mixed . While a group came out from the auditorium severly injured after falling from their seats laughing, the other group reportedly went bald, scratching their heads at regular intervals. I belonged to the first category.

Weak storyline, incohesive screenplay, shortage of original ideas, unwanted extravagance in songs ithu ellaathaiyum
meeRi, if this movie had kept me engrossed for the whole 190 minutes… its because of the one and only Super Star.thalaivar vaazga

I too thought of that likening to Madhur Bhandarkar and how Shankar does not deliver this time (just like Madhur failed). And I was thinking you would point it out. Ahh, you have spoiled my movie watching, I constantly think what “you” would think about this and what you would write about that ! 🙂
Frankly, apart from Rajni mannerisms, that ubercool get-up(Vinod Kambli get up), expensive sets (but still could not see where the 85+ crores went !), there wasn’t any meat, forget by Shankar standards even by Rajni standards – methinks. The scenes were treated in a strictly round robin fashion and at one point I felt the movie is drowned by its own abundance – in the sense – they had to have punchlines, they had to have those lavish sets and half a dozen songs picturised, they had to have the villans and those fights,a herione and some romance, they had to have Rajni’s mannerisms his slow walking, they had to have hero doing social service and above all this, a convincing plot. Too much to ask I say.
Thilak, you have even more guts!

The movie sucked big time.Shankar has screwed the whole movie with his insensible screenplay and story.He has defamed rajini by making him play silly tricks to woo shreya.As a rajni fan am greatly disappointed with the movie.

The movie is of Rajni fans, for Rajni fans and by Rajni fans. Rajni’s talent as an actor is a given. We want Rajni the Superstar. Rajni the entertainer. The script gives us oodles of Rajni’s oomph. That’s all we need to keep going back to the theatre.

On the comparison of Rajni’s mannerisms with TR and the likes, Rajni has an undefinable charm, a charisma that nobody else posseses. The fact that he endears to people of all ages, both the sexes and breaks language and cultural barriers in his reaching out to audiences bear testimony to his charisma.

We did not expect a taut script. We did not want a great story with great acting. We wanted Rajni and we got him.

Deepak,
Whatever pal. “for Rajni fans” – agreed.
“Rajni has an undefinable charm, a charisma that nobody else posseses. The fact that he endears to people of all ages, both the sexes and breaks language and cultural barriers in his reaching out to audiences bear testimony to his charisma.” – okay. But this is, ‘Argument ad populum’ in its truest sense.

I’m off this place. Let Rajini fans enjoy this film. Others who expected a good film for all the hype it generated, are disappointed.

But my question is, do you expect an honest critical evaluation or blind ‘acknowledgment’ that it is for the ‘end-user’ and the rest of the pack aren’t allowed to comment on it. Strictly ‘No criticism’, I guess.

Can you please providee the english translations of Tamil lines. I know the ‘meaning’ may be lost in translation but surely a sense can still be conveyed. I am sure there are more than one non-tamil readers out there who read your review for the writing and not with the intention of watching the movie.

Prabhu: Thanks. Though, the flaming hasn’t been so bad. Many people seem to have been disappointed, and not just because of the hype

Srinivas: “old fart”? I hope your IP address isn’t traceable 🙂

Prabhu: Actually, the message wasn’t the problem so much as the way it was delivered. And I cringed during the closing credits, which had the gall to end with a line from Bharathi: Kanavu meipada vendum. gah!

Manish: No, but Shankar manages to pack these causes into a masala movie in an entertaining manner, and even that was missing here.

prakash: Truly, the colour-changing business was nonsense. It just makes me think, if Rajini waited all this while to select *this* script, then how bad were the others? “ithu ellaathaiyum meeRi, if this movie had kept me engrossed… its because of the one and only Super Star.” So true. And I’ll look i nto the feeds issue. And thanks.

g: “squirm in their seats in exquisite agony”? 🙂

Rk: Um, that is really not a healthy way to watch films, but thanks anyway 🙂

Karthik: “As a rajni fan am greatly disappointed with the movie.” So am I. And thanks for letting us know that not all Rajini fans are ready to lap up anything.

Deepak: “The script gives us oodles of Rajni’s oomph.” Sorry, but that wasn’t the script’s doing. That was Rajini’s…

A good review. The problem is shankar and co tried to satisfy all and it failed. I was not expecting anything other than fighting corruption as it will be only safe bet. But the let down is it was not handled with a seriousness. The film never becomes tight. It looked like comedy movie to a large extent. Well i liked the first half for the fact it brought back “thambikku enth oor rajini”. rajini’s style, shankar’s lavishness- but unable to like the film as a whole.

I was told this by a friend of mine when we were discussing this movie after watching it, and I dont know how much truth there is in it – but apparently Shankar’s “formula” includes deliberately putting in an arbit cloyingly senti scene like the railway track one, and making it look bad on purpose, so that his critics pick on it first, and harp on it so much so that the other lesser (?) flaws in the movie go un-critiqued. Going by that argument, you’ve certainly played to it by picking that scene as the first among the things you didn’t like about this film. To your credit, I must however say that this is a fairly comprehensive review, as always 🙂

In a Rajni movie, one does not always expect a good story, especially in a movie meant as a typical commercial entertainer. But that should not mean that you don’t need a good SCRIPT. One can make a movie which doesn’t really have a story but has great scripting – scene by scene (think Seinfeld, for a TV show equivalent. No real story, but what an awesome sequence of skits). You’re right in saying that this movie falls short of expectations on that front, with the occasional honourable exception of Vivek.

Here in the US the ticket price for the Tamil version of Sivaji is $15! Tickets for Indian movies on opening week generally cost $8 to $10. I figured it was not worth that much and decided to wait for the DVD, or I will see it if the theater shows it next week at a lower price.

Maybe Shankar’s next film should be about a film director who makes crores by remaking the same basic story over and over with a lot of eye candy and pretense of being socially relevant 🙂

why is there so much commotion over sivaji? at the end of the day, cinema is entertainment and sivaji delivers that with aplomb. its one of the very few movies where you go in, get entertained thoroughly – be it RAJNI, rahman’s music, thottatharani’s sets or manish malhotra’s style. if you start looking for messages, logic etc etc in movies, you’d be better off watching documentaries – michael moore is my personal recommendation.

Going to watch the film on Tuesday; tickets reserved. (Yes, haven’t seen the film yet, but, wait, don’t ostracize me yet! Ticket kedaikkalappa, ticket kedaikkala. The entire film-watching junta of Bangalore went bonkers for the past few days.)

>>”These are usually the strongest parts of a Shankar film, but here they are horribly written and the execution is worse.”
Shankar had completely lost it even in Anniyan; since Boys, in fact. Scenes were modeled along utter clichés, played out intolerably loud, as he seemed to unreservedly assume that his audience is totally dumb.

>>”Baasha or Padayappa (my favourite from the post-Annamalai Rajini oeuvre)”
I agree there, Padaiyappa (easily tops the list!) and Baatsha are the most compelling Rajini-watches with some of the most majestic Rajini moments, those great “B-film” flourishes, the trademark plot twists and turnarounds, punch dialogues, mannerisms et al., all of which are now part of the folklore. Baatsha is rather uneven with poor production values, merely functional scenarios, but compensates well enough with some of the greatest Rajini moments part of the Tamil pop-culture.

In my view, K. S. Ravikumar is hands down the best Rajini filmmaker. Padaiyappa is worth a shot-by-shot analysis! In its own way, that is. 🙂

Baradwaj, how do you review a movie like this? Do you try to wear a Rajni fan’s hat and expect the typical superstar moments on the screen and give it a thumbs up when the moments work well? Or do you wear an objective reviewer’s hat in which case most of the the movie becomes pretty much unacceptable logic-wise and the whole movie(except for the songs and production values) would be a joke. Not talking about necessarily Sivaji, but Rajni movies in general.

Sudhish Kamath has written a direct reply to your review, did you check it ?
Anyways, he is right from his point of view. What I understood here was that, you are an hardcore critic from the bottom of your heart and then the fan. But he is more of a fan than a critic (which is completely fine unless …)
But what I dont understand is, if one is a fan, he should/does not even look for justifications!

sakthin: “But the let down is it was not handled with a seriousness. The film never becomes tight.” That’s exactly it. Shankar did justice neither to his hero nor to his script.

Peetre: “I am impressed that you stand by your convictions.” But that’s really the point, right? If I don’t do that, would I be doing my job?

Anand: That’s an interesting conspiracy theory. But what’s worse was that that scene wasn’t just arbitly cloying. It starts off as comedy, with Rajini hopping, and then becomes a full-blown senti moment, violins and all. Whew!

Gay Raja: What is Kaanal Neer?

Ravi K: I’ve heard a lot about that, how US makkal are mad about the hiked rates, despite the fact that the theatres are crummy 🙂

Raj: We’re not the ones who went in looking for messages. Shankar’s the one who put them there. This would have been far better off it had not taken to addressing issues.

Zero: Thanks man. I’d like to hear what you thought about the film. But don’t you think Anniyan at least had a momentum going, that kept you watching? And even the “poor production values” Of Baasha don’t bother me, because the film has a lot more in terms of how it presents the Super Star. And you may have a point there about KSR…

d-day: “rajini no longer wanted 2 strain himself nd perform a role” But he has strained himself here. You only have to look at the dance steps he’s been put through 🙂

Vijay: When you get down to “reviewing” a film, it shouldn’t matter whether you’re a fan or not. Does the movie work as a whole, the way Padayappa and Baasha did? IMO, this one came nowhere close. And logic isn’t a consideration at all. There are movies with zero logic that have been made well enough to make you forget there’s zero logic.

Ravikiran: I’ll check it out. But even if I am a fan of an actor, I’d be very disappointed if a film didn’t work. Rajini was there in every frame of Baba, but is there anyone who liked that film?

Mr.B, Kudos for a review that dares brave the wrath of millions of Rajini fans and delivers an objective analysis of the film. Which is the what every critic worth his salt should do. My own 2 cents worth can be read here: http://tomesflicks.blogspot.com/2007/06/shivaji-boss.html
And Geez, in Malaysia, fans set fires, smashed glasses and beat up a Cinema Manager when there was a delay in screening due to technical glitches. Wasn’t you leading that mob by any chance, was it?

brangan,
Hi. I liked your review. I saw the film and i felt very let down. Shankar the director let me down actually. He is still rehashing elements from his earlier films and there seems to be no growth in terms of his narration or screenplay. I liked rajni in the film. I loved his look and his presence in the last fifteen minutes. And i loved the line’pannenga thaan kootama varum, naan singam, single a thaan varuven. Solid line and i know every single person in the theatre clapped the loudest for that line, including me. Everybody says you must go with that ‘rajni’ mindset for this film, leave your brains behind and then watch the film and stuff like that. This is before they see the film. And i know the same people came out disappointed after the film. This leaving your brains behind for a rajni film might have worked twenty years ago. People want a good commercial film with lots of romance, humour, good songs and action but there should be logic in the film and it should be realistic. The audience is smart enough now to not accept anything that’s not realistic. A 57 year old rajni acting and made to look like a 35 year old man in love with a 21 year old girl, a RAJNI who smears fair and lovely to look ‘fair'( this thing about him being dark in every film of his has gone a bit too far now,enough),an NRI rajni who has to be taught by a doctor what cpr is, who checks on the net to see how much black money there is in india, who calls for a meeting and asks a group of people to reveal their bosses black money source and where they have it hidden,a rajni,you know what, i can go on but it’s really tiring to point out mundane, stupid and illogical scenes in a movie that disappoints and fails to deliver. I just want to add that the songs could have been shot at 1/4th of the amount of money they claim to have spent and that goes for the whole film too. I just hope that everybody gets their money back and that the exhibitors and distributors are happy. That’s the only thing that’s important right now… So here’s to that and nice review. Keep it up.

“When you get down to âreviewingâ? a film, it shouldnât matter whether youâre a fan or not.”

Thats what I thought until I read Sudhish Kamath’s review 🙂 His usage of words like “Thalaivar” and so on clearly betrays his fandom. Even for Baasha or Padayappa to “work as a whole” as you claim, there ought to be some sort of inherent liking or tolerance for Rajni brand of charisma. I mean, look at this way. If you asked a Hollywood reviewer to review Baasha vs say Monsoon wedding(or Kannathil muththamittal), do you think Baasha would have “worked” for them. Not even a Hollywood reviewer, even for our Mumbai reviewers and some local reviewers too.Every time Rajni goes “naan oru thadava sonna..” they would have thought it as something silly, if they dont understand or buy into what being Rajni means or what his punchlines mean. I believe how MUCH it works is based on how much you are willing to buy into the charisma aspect and willing to suspend your disbelief during the crowd-pleasing screen moments and that is directly related to how much you are a fan of Rajni the star or a believer of the whole Rajni movie-watching experience. I am seeing this based on the varied reviews I have read of Sivaji’s first half.

Fantastic review B-Bhai:-)! Im yet to see the movie, however i’m not surprised to see this movie doesn’t have a story..I suspected all it needs is the “Thalivar”:-). Still dying to see it mainly because in a Rajni-junkie and a Shankar-addict:-)

Though TR brand of movies are worse than rajani movies with the lack of quality and the abundance of crudeness, and both the actor’s movies are not something, I enjoyed anytime, I was really impressed with TR in his recent appearance in the SUN TV’s assatha povadhu yaar.

He came out as a multi talented person with clear thoughts and ability to express his feeling clearly and able to see through the hidden aspects of the performances. I was really surprised that person with so much talent and self belief, why TR chose to make himself as a caricature in his movies.

I have no plan to watch Sivaji movie in the near future. But after reading your honest and excellent review, the movie is clearly what I expected it to be.
Sankar had become a more like a music video director, who knows only one story and repeating it in every movie. If you remove music and song picturing from his movies, what left is nothing to boast about.

The review is totally BIASED. The fact the train seen was highlighted in more than 10 lines shows that.
And all the oppurtunist who were waiting to be different ( who go against the most in the word ) have given their support.
Again, Logic miss is made a point. Oh my god ! from hollywood to kollywood you cant name a movie without logic miss. Please anyone name if possible. Itz a challenge.

And you cant make a art film with rajinikanth.
But mind you , it is not a typical shankar film where Arjun can be projected as super hero. Were your eyes and brains open for the pre release hype and expectation and the record in advance booking. The number of theatres the movie was released etc etc etc. And also notice the fans liked the movie a lot. And Rajni has got the biggest fan following in the world ( has to be true since if it is highest in India it is obviously highest in world too) .. Hats off to the sivaji team for making a Super Hit movie.
Just stand up on the chair and look back at all the super hit movies till date and the logic in that.
And one more thing shankar is not repeating the story again and again. In each movie he has come up with different issues – bribe, officers has to be honest, common man should be disciplined and black money here. So just use your head before you say shankar is out of stock . The social awareness message in his film keeps changing and reaches the common man. No one was able to do that till date.
And Tamilnadu is not the place where an actor has come into power in a short span. MGR , Jayalalitha have been in politics for a long term before they came to power. And it is not only in tamilnadu that actors enters politics.
For writing a review, you need to know some basic facts . Avoid areas which you dont have much idea.
And moreover, avoid such BIASED reviews in the future. But one thing I could appreciate, it is smartly biased.

Finally saw SIVAJI Baradwaj (minus subtitles), and I must say my provisional view (pending release of the subtitled DVD) is that I completely agree with your review. This film is not a patch on Anniyan, but the weirdest thing about it is Shankar’s stance: it’s almost as if he set out to make a spoof of a Rajni film rather than the real article. Indeed it was very weird seeing the Thalaivar and Vivek together in this sort of film: after spoofing Rajni for so long, the sort of ridiculousness in Sivaji’s first half made this viewer feel Rajni was spoofing Vivek spoofing Rajni!

And before anyone accuse me of being some cinesnob, let me hasten to add that I love outright masala — heck I just got Rendu and Veyil yesterday — and watched Rendu first (but of course, though Maddy’s presence obviously had a lot to do with it). I mean, I found Padaiyaappa damn addictive; Chandramukhi was quite enjoyable too but not enough of a “Rajni film”, but Sivaji is no Padaiyappa or Muthu man…

A special mention should be made of the VAAJI video: even by his own standards and taste for the over the top spectacle, Shankar outdoes himself here — wow what a video! And Shriya is indeed seriously hot. As in smoking (but still quite a ways behind Asin or even the Telugu Pokiri’s Ileana D’Cruz).

I too could not bear the “humor” on skin color, and Rajni degrading himself with the whole Fair n’ lovely sequence — initially I thought Shankar was spoofing our national obsession, but sadly the sinking feeling in my tummy turned out to be right: he was in fact doing his best to contribute.

On the train sequence, I didn’t feel so strongly (must have been distracted by all that heaving cleavage) — is it just me or is that sort of thing a departure for Shankar? i.e. don’t really remmeber that kinda affable sleaze happening in Gentleman, Indian, Muthalvan, or Anniyan, though perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me.

In sum: as a FILM my favorite Shankar film remains Muthalvan (the road accident that quickly degenrates into a riot is the single best scene I’ve seen in a Shankar film), though a pity about Arjun…Anniyan as a spectacle is not surpassed even in Sivaji, be it the lavish videos or the action sequences (barring the crazy car bash at the drive-in in the Rajni film), more than one suffered from a distinct Anniyan hangover. The second half was way better, but the first half was simply painful.

KayKay: Thanks man. I left a comment on your blog that seems to have vanished mysteriously. Net-net, I liked what you had to say about the film.

Karthik: ‘check’ed out the review. Thanks.

gautham: Thanks. And it *is* sad that people seem to be confusing “lack of logic” with “not needing a tight screenplay.” One has nothing to do with the other, and my problems with Sivaji arise from the latter, not the former.

Vijay: Of course, there has to be a liking for Rajini and his brand of cinema. I grew up with Kamal and Rajini films, so I’m interested in anything that these two make. But I’m no rabid fan of either, so my liking them as performers has nothing to do with my liking their movies. And the Rajini movie-watching experience, as you put it, has become quite different. People talk of Rajini’s style and refer to his cigarette antics and his sunglasses tricks, but to me, the epitome of the Rajini style will always be the way he carried himself in his earlier films. The ‘Kaadalin dheepam ondru’ song sequence in Thambikku Endha Ooru, for instance. All he’s doing is walking across a park, mouthing the lines, wearing the simplest of clothes – but the way he walks, and the way he looks up and looks down, with the slighest shrug of his shoulders, as he finishes the stanza with “kaadhal… vaazhga… ho…” Ah, THAT’S style.

Sathish Kumar: Thanks sir. Yes, Rajini’s presence in the last fifteen minutes was the only worthwhile thing.

Akshay Shah : Thanks man 🙂 You should write a review soon.

SR: Ah, finally someone else who thought Suman was pathetic…

Suderman: What can I say? 🙂

EHari: What is that TR programme you refer to? Actually, that man isn’t a total hack. His Oru Thalai Raagam soundtrack is one for the ages. Just contrast today’s gaana songs with ‘Koodayile karuvaadu’ and you’ll see how stylish the latter was for its times. Regarding Sivaji, you should still watch it, if only for the big-screen experience.

Sri: The train scene bothered me, so I highlighted that. Making an art film with Rajinikanth is hardly the point here. And illogical movies need good screenwriting too.

Qalandar: See? That’s what I’m saying. You and I *are* fans of masala movies, but to endorse anything in the name of masala… That’s ridiculous. Then anyone can come in, string together a series of vignettes, put a star in it and call it a masala movie. (Which is what they do anyway, most of the time.) Surely no one wants that to be the defining cinema of our pop culture…

The show is Aasatha povadhu yaar – The talent show program on saturdays on Sun TV. This is probably the only show, I watch everyweek on Sun TV. I think, Rajendar came as the guest few weeks back in this program.

d film was an entertainer n u cant expect a real life story n logic frm a movie like this.for instance u hav many kamal movies,hindi movies like this but worsht than this.VV was also average only.ppl need only entertainers not a real lifie story which they already xperiance.they com to theaters only to njoy.i would say rajni’s dance was better than his recent movies..nd the review s horrible man (wtf).shows u dont like rajni n u have written ur comments not a review..thats alll

Appros of nothing, What’s your take on Khalid? That idiot can never write a non-barbarous sentence in English, is full of himself, actually SUCCEEDED in making the North Indians believe that Kamal was over-rated (all because he fought with him), has directed some laughably pathetic movies BUT still came up with some remarkably sensitive screenplays right out of his childhood for Shyam Benegal!

Question inspired by googling for Cheeni Kum reviews and seeing him babbling away as usual. Makes me realize we really ought to be far, far more appreciative of your work. 🙂

g – Khalid’s writing for Mammo was quite good, actually. But his reviews are written with a particular style that I find hard to read – in the sense that I just don’t get many of his “jokes”. BTW, what is that Kamal incident you are talking about? I remember reading a rave review of his for Thevar Magan, which was quite nicely written (without the puns etc.)

that was really wonderful….to go agnst the tide…havent had the time or patience to read all the comments so pardon me if this is a repeat but hv u read malini mannath’s review in ind exp ( chennai)? i think she needs a pat on her bk
so do u 🙂

aswin and all the others who hv championed rajini or shankar…hv u ever given a thot to 55 crores being spent on a movie when we r a poverty stricken nation… ???? and how many pockets got lined??? hmmmmmmm vis a vis how many ppl r starving….????

“This is Rajini, for crying out loud! Weâd happily buy the scene with cheers and wolf-whistles even if he merely held out a hand with an upturned palm, and the train slowed down in meek submission â so what is this business about him needing to be saved? Whereâs the âheroismâ? â that all-important consideration of Kollywood â in this? Yes, this is probably the most logical way out of the situation, having her stop the train, but whoever looks for logic in a masala movie?”

Or to put it another way people are willing to give their life for the Super Hero.

I agree. Mammo was written so well. My irritation with him is two fold
1)he writes English like a f***ing idiot.
2) Most times, he is too bitter and disconnected with the real world for anyone to take his babblings seriously. 🙂

About the Kamal incident, basically, like everyone else I too get irritated when Kamal’s “Look-how-clever-I-am—Please-clap-for-me” act falls on its face. The fact that when it works, he gives us movies like Mahanadi, Nayakan, Pushpak Vimana et al gets pushed to the background when that happens. 🙂

While Khalid was still with the TOI(and therefore ridiculously influential), I too brought into his bitter tirade against Kamal while Khalid was reviewing Hey Ram.
You know the usual – Kamal is a narcisstic, over-rated actor who hogs the camera and shamelessly gropes his heroines. 🙂 Apparently even Govinda is a better actor than him!!
And then recently Black Friday’s Anurag mentioned in his blog that all that was brought about due to a personal fight between the two. I am sure lot of guys in the industry too subconsciously brought into that precisely because it fed into their existing prejudices. 🙂

rekhs: Thanks. And yes, Malini is the Tamil film critic for our paper, so I do read her reviews.

Ranjith S: I guess Rajini is happy with Shankar in a way, for the film has turned out a huge hit all over.

Dilip: “Or to put it another way people are willing to give their life for the Super Hero.” That explanation doesn’t cut it for me in this scene, especially not after the farcical way it begins, with Rajini hopping on the tracks and all that. That’s a big, big emotion you’re talking about and if that’s what they wanted to convey, this certainly isn’t the way to do it.

g: But what was the incident that caused the fallout between Khalid and Kamal?

“That’s a big, big emotion you’re talking about and if that’s what they wanted to convey, this certainly isn’t the way to do it.”

Maybe so but thats a far cry from ridiculing the whole scene. Moreover you are person who started off this review by claiming that you would gladly wolf-whistle your way to a sore throat if the super star had stopped the train on its tracks with his index finger. You spend the rest of the post rubbishing the many (allegedly) illogical aspects of the movie. Me thinks you are a tad too inconsistent in articulating what exactly you expect out of a Rajnikanth starrer.

Rajni is an ok actor. He may have great style or charisma. But he is not great acting skills or verstality.
I have seen his Hindi Movies. He is a Maharastrian and his hindi is also fluent. So there is no language barrier.
I may be wrong since I dont understand Tamil movies. But seeing his hindi movies. That is what I figure out.

Firstly, there are many reasons to hound on the screenplay of Sivaji, which was quite bland and unnevocative – but picking on if Rajini’s character killed anyone or not is completely missing the plot in your own right.

One thing this film totally convinced me of is that Shankar is a better director of photography than a filmmaker.

There are moments that are simply wonderful in the film, but it lacks the emotional attachment of “Padayappa” that really sends goosebumps through the soul during set-ups and pay-offs.

We as the audience need to realise that half the reason why Indian film screenplays are so lacking is because when we criticise them, we nitpick at unnecessary details instead of casting a down-to-earth analysis of the big picture. When we so horridly review their stories, we can’t blame them for as equally horridly churning them out.

As a side note – Shankar actually sat down with hundreds of potential ideas on how to develop the screenplay of Sivaji… consulted with hundreds of film enthusiasts… and if this is the final product, something is terribly wrong somewhere.

Then again a film critic derives far greater merit if he can also express how a film “SHOULD” be done, instead of whining about how it shouldn’t be done.

I for one was looking for one major element in the film that was sadly missing: to feel sentimentally connected to the absolute “loss” that Rajni faces, and to feel roused with inspiration at every step of him finding his way again.

The whole “making millions from one rupee” concept holds such infinite potential, and if only that had been constructed and carried out in an engaging, astoundingly “against-all-odds” clever enthusiasm, that would have stamped the film down as a classic.

Instead, it was carried out like some technical attempt to churn out a three hour entertainer filled with good ideas that never quite connect.

Even so, it was 3 hours of fun, and there is no doubts about the star power of Rajini. Rajini isn’t the entertainer that he is because his audience is illiterate. You only need to see the reaction of international audiences to realise this.

And quit quibbing about his failure in Hindi films. He was never well marketed in Hindi. I have seen his hindi films, and it was like he was stripped of ammunition in them.

Thing with Rajini is, he needs to be given the situation in which to shine.

Vajra: on your last point re: Kamal: I am one of those who is quite critical of Kamal, but that has nothing to do with Shah Rukh Khan’s inadequacies. That is, it is precisely BECAUSE Kamal is a fine actor, precisely BECAUSE he must be considered Tamil cinema’s most celebrated actor, that the bar is different and higher for him. It is not to “diss” Kamal but to critique a certain self-indulgence that he is prone to; the question of comparing him with lightweights like Shah Rukh Khan cannot even arise.

On a different note, while there are multiple actors I prefer to Kamal (Mohanlal, Amitabh, Mammoothy), on the strength of Hey Ram and Virumaandi Kamal is a fantastic director, and one of my favorite Indian directors…

I am not a Tamilian but I grew up there so I do not understand song lyrics. I also read your music review and liked the explanation of lyrics of the songs. They are definitely catchy songs and I like it when they come along with meaningful lyrics.

A critique needs to be unbiased and from all possible angles and you are so excellent at it. I wanted to write my own reviews too but cannot come up with such wonderful words to express what I feel about the movie(s). Sigh! Maybe I should at least make a beginning….

Hi,
Finally managed to watch Sivaji. Bharadwaj, I did not go expecting a great script. For a Rajnikanth film, one should never do that. Frankly, you may have found Padayappa and the rest with some sort of screenplay, but, I thought they were as good or bad as this one. My grouse is with the editing team of Sivaji. It is so evident that each one in the team was in so much awe with the man, that they simply forgot when to use their scissors! Especially, towards the end, the film just goes on and on. I was expecting that the film would get over after the new Rajnikanth’s swearing-in ceremony and was already running my imaginations wild of building a sequel to this film. 🙂 Shankar promptly answered me by extending the film to a length only put off the audience. Phew~ This was one Rajnikanth’s film I wanted to end. I know am going to hurt a lot of sentiments here, but please guys…I strongly feel that Rajnikanth should accept his age gracefully. Though his antics are fun truly entertaining. I loved the way he ate his chewing gum and tossed the coin. But, the producers spent so much money to only make the man look young, unfortunately it has not really helped. In all the close-up frames (there were very few of them) with the girl Shreya, I could well imagine them as a father-daughter duo!
Bottom line: Thalaivar should retire.
PS: I agree with your views on JBJ. I prefer Ricky Thukral to our very own Sivaji!:-)

BR,
You just took the words out of my mouth. I have drawn quite a lot of flak for expressing similar views. I have for long deplored the influence wielded by some senseless cinema over politics in TN and AP. What is appalling is that even the educated people are so carried away and actually absorb faihtfully, the political propaganda sent out in our movies esp here in south. Then they say “it is just entertainment”. There are a million blogs already praising this movie and of course Rajni. However, please note that I have nothing against any actor in particular and Rajni is probably a good actor too. It is just scary how we (even educated indians with access to blogs,internet etc) never take time to analyze the policies etc made by politicians and judge them but instead get so excited and swayed by vague statements made by someone controlling some movie.

Dear Indian, in the present busy world one wishes to spend the 3 hours in an useful and entertaining way. The sivaji movie is a business trick lured by the wealthy people to become more richer. There is neither entertainment nor message in the movie. Gone the days of tamil cinema we heard good screanplay,background scoure and lovely songs. The movie kickstarted a bad culture and i bet we are going to have more movie’s similiar in this way.Nowadays to taking movie is like a cake walk simply book a superstar and you can take whatever you want and this will be a hit. Yes —— India shining in this way.

I would be damned if i dont post anything here in Sivaji’s review even though you must be tired of approving my comments. 🙂

Thalaivar padam pa – Naan edhuvum solla matenn. $16 koduthu first day first show in bayarea, $20 Sweets to distribute it among friends in the theatre, $ 10 gas to drive from my place to theatre – I got my paisa vasool in sultan preview. Artharth…Hum fan nahin..Fanatic hain sahib.

Hello Mr.Rangan,
I have read your reviews in Indian Express and always appreciated them due to their amazing sense of humour but then even I though I don’t feel let down by Sivaji, I feel let down by your review..very poor review man….very poor….only Rajni fans will like this film and I see that you aren’t one of ’em. I agree that the script is very weak but then its a commercial potboiler and completely entertaining. Shankar has missed an opportunity to create a masterpiece but then has created a film which all the Rajni fans will love. Rajni’s performance was mind blowing. If he ain’t there then the movie would have been like RGV Ki Aag(Imagine RGV makin’ this film with Nisha Kothari as heroine and in that train scene….lol). At the end of the day, Mr. Baradwaj Rangan has disappointed me with this very weak review(weaker than Sivaji’s script).

DO NOT RATE RAJINI AS PER HIS LATEST FILMS LIKE SIVAJI AND ENDHIRAN AND PADAYAPPA, AND ARUNACHALAM. AFTER 1985, HE BECAME A SUPER STAR AND THAT TIME HE LOST HIS ACTING SKILL. BUT BASICALLY, A TRUE CHARACTER ARTIST BY BIRTH, HE CAN PERFORM ANY ROLE CASUALLY, WITHOUT ANY PROPER MAKEUP AND GETUP LIKE KAMAL. SIMPLY, HE IS A REMARKABLE CHARACTER ARIST, THE FACT ACCEPTED BY KAMAL HIMSELF. BUT KAMAL ALSO CRITICISED HIS HEROISM ONLY, WHICH IS NOT SUITABLE FOR RAJINI. HE SHOULD DO ALL TYPES OF ROLES, WHICH HE ATTEMPTED IN KUSELAN. HE SHOULD GO BACK TO HIS 1975-1985 PERIOD WHERE HE PLAYED SRI RAGAVENDRAR WHICH NO TAMIL ACTOR CAN ATTEMPT BOLDLY. THE VILLAGE 45 YEAR OLD PERSON KUMARAN IN ENGEYO KETTA KURAL, AND DSP ALEX PANDIAN IN MOONDRU MUGAM, AND BATSHA (UNDERGROUND DHADHA) IN BATSHA. HE IS VERSATILE IN ACTING, AND IF HE CAN CONTROL IS STYLE AND ACTING TO SOME EXTENT, HE IS REALLY THE MASTER ACTOR OF TAMIL NADU AND AFTER T.S. BALAIAH, HE IS THE ONLY SKILLED ACTOR AVAILABLE IN TN. DIRECTORS SHOULD NOT USE HIM LIKE A COMEDY HERO LIKE DOING CIGRATEE STYLES HERE AND THERE, AND DOING SOME COMIC THINGS LIKE MGR. RAJINI SHOULD TRY TO GO TO 1975-1985 PERIOD AND SHOULD BECOME A PERMANENT CHARACTER ACTOR FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS WELL WISHERS.

“is this how he wants to be remembered in what is definitely some of his last movies?? “-This line really made me sad… Brangan… But you were right….. With the sheer screen presence and charisma that he has- he could have made a movie that celebrates himself.. And also satiates his inner creative conscience to some extent……..

Just Imagine thalaivar and Kamal starring,in an movie directed by the new-gen directors….. These Guys would write deadly roles for them without compromising themselves…. But I guess it will remain a fantasy for me..

I can’t believe I made that previous comment wishing for a different thalaivar movie. And My wish has come true, a thalaivar-new gen director collaboration has happened and the movie is bound to release tomorrow. 🙂